1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the production of commonly used fibrous structures, such as fabrics, and in particular fabrics formed from mixtures of synthetic and natural fibers such as nylon and cotton, which have a high degree of flame-retardancy coupled with softness, silkiness, and hydrophobicity.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
The production of fibrous structures such as textiles, from which may be formed clothing, filters, dustbags, and the like and which have flame-retardancy, has occupied workers in the field for a number of years as manifested, for example, by the procedures disclosed and claimed in such representative prior art as U.S. Pat. No. 3,549,307, issued Dec. 22, 1970, and U.S. Pat. No. 3,607,798, issued Sept. 21, 1971 to Hirsch; U.S. Pat. No. 4,203,723 issued May 20, 1980 to Toy and Stringham; the article entitled "Photoaddition of fluorolefins on Aromatic Polyamide" by Toy, Stringham, and Dawn, in the Journal of Applied Polymer Science, Volume 21, 2583-2588 (1977); and U.S. Pat. No. 4,278,703 Toy, Stringham, and Fogg issued July 14, 1981.
While the efforts represented by the prior art workers, illustrated above, have resulted in improvements in the flame retardation of certain types of fabrics or textiles, there remains a need for methods which would unlike the prior art procedures, impart a high degree of flame-retardancy, softness, silkiness, and nonwettability to, e.g. commonly used fabrics comprising mixtures of synthetic and natural fibers, such as mixtures of nylon and cotton.